Category: Academics

Duke Announces Changes in University-Sponsored Summer Programs

Duke Announces Changes in University-Sponsored Summer Programs

In light of the continuing uncertainty about our ability to safely conduct programming on campus over the next several months, Duke will be implementing the following changes for all university-sponsored summer programs:

Summer Session I classes scheduled for the Duke Campus and the Duke Marine Lab are cancelled.  We are currently exploring the feasibility of offering a reduced set of remote or online courses in Summer I (May 13-June 25) and will announce those options when they can be confirmed.  We have not made a final determination about Summer Session II (June 29-Aug 9 but plan to do so by the end of April.  We hope circumstances will have changed enough to safely operate a limited schedule of classes; otherwise we will continue to plan a slate of remote or online offerings for Summer Session II.  Since many Duke undergraduates rely on Summer Session I and II to meet academic requirements, our highest priority will be to ensure that those courses remain available to the extent possible.

All other Duke-sponsored academic curricular and co-curricular programs scheduled for the entire summer must be delivered remotely or online.  No campus-based programming or classes will be permitted.

All Duke-sponsored academic programs involving travel are cancelled for the entire summer. This includes, but is not limited to, GEO-managed study abroad, Duke Engage, and any programs offered by graduate and professional schools. Student participation in summer study abroad programs offered by non-Duke providers must abide by Duke travel policies.

All Duke-sponsored summer programs enrolling pre-college students (minors), except the American Dance Festival and sports camps scheduled for Duke campus and offsite locations, are cancelled for the entire summer.  This includes, but is not limited to, Duke TIP, pre-college programs run by Continuing Studies, individual schools and units, and the Office of Durham and Community Affairs, as well as any Duke student-run activities. We anticipate delivering a limited set of pre-college programs remotely or online.  Further details will be forthcoming from each program.

Sports camps, the American Dance Festival and all non-credit classes, programs, camps, festivals, and activities sponsored by outside organizations that are schedule to be held on the Duke campus are cancelled through at least June 28, 2020.  We will make a decision by the end of April regarding programs scheduled to be held after June 28.

Individuals who have already registered and paid for cancelled programs will receive a full refund of any deposits or fees that have been paid. We expect that many schools and programs that are unable to operate on campus will develop alternatives that could provide educational and employment opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students at Duke, as well as the many individuals from around the world who have come to rely on Duke summer programs.

We are assembling a leadership working group to support the development and delivery of curricular, co-curricular, and career programs for Duke undergraduate and graduate students. We will also widely disseminate summer opportunities through a dedicated website that will be available shortly.

Curtailing summer programming is a difficult but necessary decision given the current uncertainty about the safe resumption of campus activities.  We know it will present some level of disruption and stress for students, families, faculty and staff, but we also know that many of our programs will use this moment to conceive and execute innovative programs that continue our mission of education, research and service.

What’s in the ‘Families First’ Law?

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act was signed into law by President Trump on Wednesday after being passed by Congress. The new law is one of several federal measures intended to provide relief to communities hurt by the virus. Duke professors Lisa Gennetian, associate professor of early learning policy studies, and Nathan Boucher, a research health scientist, explain some key features of the law and what those mean for Americans.

 

Q: Everyone is being urged to watch for symptoms of COVID-19, but some people lack good insurance –and some have no insurance. What if someone suspects they have COVID-19? Can they get free testing and medical examinations, or will they have to pay?

Nathan Boucher: The bill makes COVID-19 testing and treatment free of charge. There will be no deductibles, copayments or coinsurance for individual care provided during health care provider office visits, including in-person visits and telehealth visits, urgent care center visits, and emergency room visits if care is related to COVID–19 or SARS–CoV–2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

A public health and social services emergency fund will add $1 billion to reimburse health care providers for providing health services to uninsured patients related to COVID–19 or SARS-COV-2.

 

Q: Does the law affect veteran’s hospitals?

NB: The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) will get an additional $60 million for medical care for patients and care providers.

This is important because a little-known requirement of the VHA is that they act as additional care facilities and services for civilians in times of crisis.

 

Q: What about older Americans? They’re particularly vulnerable during this pandemic. Does the new law contain any special measures to help them?

NB: Seniors do indeed face special risks, including heightened risk of dying from the virus. The new law contains several measures designed to help them.

In particular, the law provides $250 million for activities aging and disabilities services. This includes $160 million for home-delivered nutrition services (programs like Meals on Wheels), $80 million for nutrition services for seniors living in “congregate care homes,” such as assisted living facilities, and $10 million for nutrition services for older Native Americans.

 

Q: Will Native Americans in general see relief as well?

NB: Prior to the pandemic, American Indians already faced disparities in health care access and health outcomes. The new law allots $64 million to bolster Indian Health Services for social care and health care supports for vulnerable American Indian populations.

 

Q: How will the new law help children and families cope with COVID-19?

Lisa Gennetian: The new law includes an infusion of emergency funds in three of America’s key food and nutrition programs run by the Department of Agriculture: SNAP, WIC and school meal programs. It also expands eligibility for those programs.

Otherwise known as food stamps, SNAP is America’s most comprehensive safety net program, providing a monthly allotment to income-eligible individuals and families that can be used to purchase food. Benefits are disbursed via an electronic benefit card

The most important aspect of the COVID-19 legislation is suspending requirements to work in order to be eligible for SNAP. Those work rules, which were due to go into effect, would have removed SNAP benefits for nearly 19 million people.

The COVID-19 legislation increases overall SNAP federal funding available to states. It also expands who can qualify for benefits and how long they can receive benefits.

The legislation also increases overall funding for the Women, Infant and Children’s program that provides infant formula and basic foods to income-eligible families with infants and toddlers.

 

Q: What about school meals? What will children who previously received meals at school do now?

LG: School meals serve as an essential source of food and nutrition for hundreds of thousands of American children. For instance, over 700,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade are eligible to receive free or reduced price meals in New York City. Nationally, over 30 million students qualify.

The new legislation permits states and school districts to reallocate funding for free and reduced-price breakfast, lunch and related meals available during school hours. That funding can now be used to provide meals even when school is closed.

This applies to all schools closed at least five days. For example, school districts can now provide meals as grab-and-go options for students.

 

Lisa Gennetian is Pritzker Associate Professor of Early Learning Policy Studies at Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy. Her research focuses on policies and programs that reduce child poverty and support children’s development.

Nathan Boucher is an assistant research professor at the Sanford School and a faculty member at the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy, with additional appointments at the Duke School of Medicine and the Durham VA. He formerly practiced as a licensed physician assistant.

 

Duke to Offer Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory Grade Option for All Undergraduate Courses This Semester

Duke to Offer Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory Grade Option for All Undergraduate Courses This Semester

Dear Duke Students,

The unprecedented challenges imposed by COVID-19 require us to consider novel ways to support the curricular efforts of our undergraduate students and faculty. This is a moment that has been characterized by widespread anxiety, uncertainty, social, and geographic disruption. As academic leaders of this great university, we believe that bold action is necessary to maximize undergraduates’ curricular engagement.

Accordingly, during Spring 2020, we will transition all courses to a satisfactory/unsatisfactory (S/U) grading option, but allow undergraduates the opportunity of receiving a letter grade.

Effective immediately, Spring 2020 courses will transition to a default S/U grading option. If you choose to receive a letter grade for any class, you can indicate so by submitting a form to the registrar's office no later than April 22 at 5:00 pm EST. You can find the form here: https://registrar.duke.edu/forms/su-graded.

Moreover:

  • Courses taken for S/U grades during Spring 2020 will count towards curricular, major, continuation, and graduation requirements.
  • A grade of S (satisfactory) will be awarded if you earn the equivalent of a letter grade of C- or higher.
  • Grades of S and U are not factored into your grade point average.
  • This policy does not apply to 500/600-level courses. These courses are subject to graduate-level grading policies. More detail about these courses will follow.
  • Given this shift, we will suspend the Dean's List for the Spring 2020 semester.
  • Duke will include a designation on undergraduate students’ transcripts, indicating the extraordinary circumstances encountered in the present semester.

We expect that this strategy will ease the necessary transitions into remote course delivery and promote strong engagement throughout this most extraordinary phase of Duke’s history.

Best wishes for a healthy, fulfilling, and intellectually stimulating semester.

Go Duke!

 

Sally Kornbluth, Provost

Valerie Ashby, Dean, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

Ravi Bellamkonda, Dean, Pratt School of Engineering

Gary Bennett, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education

Jennifer Francis, Executive Vice Provost

Judith Kelley, Dean, Sanford School of Public Policy 

Mary Pat McMahon, Vice Provost/Vice President Student Affairs

Toddi Steelman, Dean, Nicholas School of the Environment

Said@Duke: Geoffrey Garrett on Trade, Job Vulnerability

Geoffrey Garrett, dean of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, earned a Ph.D. from Duke’s Political Science Department in 1990. He recently spoke at Penn Pavilion about topics including trade with China, the impact of 5G, job vulnerability and automation, populism and polarization.

For more Said@Duke, click here.

Said@Duke: Ramachandra Guha on What Makes a Good Historian

Ramachandra Guha spoke last week on three major arguments that Gandhi had in his lifetime-on non-violence vs violence, on the abolition of untouchability and on inter-faith harmony. Ramachandra Guha is a historian and biographer based in Bengaluru.

For more Said@Duke, click here.

Said@Duke: Tom Barkin on New Monetary Policies

Tom Barkin, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, led a panel Wednesday about what type of monetary, fiscal and structural policies will be needed to support economic growth and respond to the next economic downturns. The panel also discussed some recent proposals in terms of new macro policy frameworks, including close coordination between monetary and fiscal policies in the United States and European Union.

The Duke University Center for International and Global Studies, the Global Financial Markets Center at Duke Law and the Department of Economics co-sponsored the event.

For more Said@Duke, click here.

Said@Duke: John Edwin Mason on Work of Gordon Parks

Historian and photographer John Edwin Mason talked about his work-in-progress, a book about 20th century African-American photographer, writer and filmmaker Gordon Parks, which will analyze Parks' LIFE Magazine photo essays on race and poverty. Duke’s Department of Art, Art History, and Visual Studies and Center for Documentary Studies co-sponsored the event.

For more Said@Duke, click here.

Said@Duke: Aneesh Chopra on Technology Improving Health Care

Aneesh Chopra, president of CareJourney and the nation's first chief technology officer, spoke Wednesday at an event hosted by Duke-Margolis and Blue Cross NC Point of Care. His talk focused on consumers taking a more active role in navigating the health care delivery system, empowered with greater access to their own data and a growing number of apps and navigation support services that can help them make better decisions at each step of their care journey.

For more Said@Duke, click here.